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Report: Global Paid Search Spending Up 18% In 2012

Advertiser spending on paid search rose 18% in 2012 according to Covario’s Global Search Advertising Spend Analysis, which tracks paid search spending in more than 45 countries. That growth trend is down just slightly from the 21% annual increase Covario reported for 2011.

In Q4 Google commanded 86.5% of global paid search spend and a whopping 93% of impressions. Advertisers spent 13% more on search spending with Google than they did a year ago. Spending on the Yahoo Bing Network increased 23% over the past year, however spend fell 6% from Q3.

Source: Covario

Regional Outlook: US & Canada Drove Q4 Growth

In Q4 global search ad spend rose 15%. Spending in the Americas, dominated by the U.S. and Canada, rose 21% year-over-year. Part of that growth is attributed to Google’s transition to Product Listing Ads in October. The Europe-Middle East region, still reeling from economic slowdown, saw relatively low growth at 10% year-over-year. Spending in the Asia-Pacific region increased 13% despite a double-digit slide in the second half of the quarter as advertisers cut spending at signs of economic weakness.

Mobile PPC: A Breakout Year for Tablets

Mobile PPC spending rose 30% year-over-year in Q4 and 10% over Q3. Tablets continued to take ad spend share from smartphones. According to Covario, “Due to the growth in tablet ownership, the mobile spending split has nearly flip-flopped from a year ago when smartphones made up 56% mobile ad spending.”

Source: Covario

The report finds that, for the second straight quarter, CPCs on tablets were higher than on desktops (7%), while smartphone CPCs remained 55% lower than on desktops.

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About The Author

As Third Door Media's paid media reporter, Ginny Marvin writes about paid online marketing topics including paid search, paid social, display and retargeting for Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She provides search marketing and demand generation advice for ecommerce companies and can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.